


For a Few Drabbles More

by estepheia



Category: Firefly
Genre: Drabble, Drabble Collection, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:34:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25674424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/estepheia/pseuds/estepheia
Summary: Melancholy moments in space
Relationships: Jayne Cobb/River Tam, Malcolm Reynolds/Inara Serra
Kudos: 13





	For a Few Drabbles More

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sangpassionne (cestus)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cestus/gifts), [inlovewithnight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inlovewithnight/gifts), [Kate74](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kate74/gifts), [soundingsea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/soundingsea/gifts), [essene](https://archiveofourown.org/users/essene/gifts).



> God, I miss that show! These were written as advent calendar or birthday drabbles between 2005 and 2012 - but I forgot to archive them. Enjoy.

**Light**

If the Cap'n and Zoë wanna cuss a few heads, hell, why not? But defending the gorram browncoat honor ain't what Jayne signed up for. Jayne's about to say as much, when gaga-girl is thrust into his arms.

"Take her back to the ship," Cap'n says, and then he and Zoë start throwing mugs and chairs. Jayne wraps one arm round River's waist and carries her off. She doesn't struggle, just holds on. Light as a feather. "Lose her and you'll breathe vacuum," she says, sounding like Mal.

"Ain't gonna lose you."

She smiles, looking ever so pretty. "I know."

Jayne - slash - PG-13  
**Real Men Don't**

On the Outer Rim, a boy gets caught oogling another guy's ass, his pa will grab a belt and give him the thrashing of a lifetime. Real men stick it to them girls, not to each other.

You grow up and someone catches you checking out a guy's ass? It's _tsai chien_ \- you pack your kit, and board a ship to another moon. Cuz with rumor traveling faster than a horse's hoof, there ain't enough bullets in the gorram Cortex to keep folks from laughin' in yer face.

Serenity ain't the Outer Rim. So maybe one of these days someone might just catch Jayne Cobb take an eyeful.

Firefly, pre- _Serenity the Movie_ \- Christmas is approaching  
**Holy Day**

Out in the black, time is a relative thing. Serenity has her own clock and calendar, just like all the other objects in space, like planets, moons and ships. Course, there’s also Cortex time, but Book ain’t willing to base the observances of his faith on that.  
Christmas ain’t about the date, anyway. Christmas is about being part of a community, no matter how small.

Next time Serenity touches down on Persephone, Book will visit Southdown Abbey for fruit and vegetables. Captain may object to prayer and such, but he won’t say no to a feast for all the crew.

**Subtle**

He never found out the name of Inara’s perfume. Probably something dandy, like “Monsoon” or “Chien Pei Nr. 4”.

Sometimes, he furtively visits her deserted shuttle and inhales the stale, slightly resinous air there; but Serenity has long since taken over with her own homey smells of fuel and wiring.

Sometimes, when they make landfall on one of the central plants, Mal pauses. For a fleeting moment, the breeze carries a subtle hint of Inara's scent.

Every time his heart skips a beat.

One day, on Beaumont, Mal steps into the most exclusive perfumery to find out.

It’s called Serenity.

Jayne/River - R - spoilers for _Serenity_  
**The Eyes of the Beholden**

Simon and Mal would have his hide if they knew he’s polishing his barrel thinking about River, but River ain’t no little girl. Tiny and lithe, like them fairytale girls that live in trees and rivers, but little she ain’t. And not just cause she can wipe the floor with him without breaking into a sweat. It’s her eyes. Jayne has little sisters, back home, he knows ‘little’ when he sees it.

She scooped up Miranda and the reavers out of old men’s heads. Makes a guy wonder what other dirty stuff she scooped up.

It’s her eyes.

River knows.

**Rosemary is for Rememberence** (post- _Serenity_ ), poilers for _Serenity_

Chow tasted a million times better, when Book was doing the cooking. Working out was better too, with Book there to spot him. But it never bothered Jayne that Book was gone. Not as long as the Shepherd was out there, somewhere, preaching to them folks as needed preaching.

But now that Book is dead and in the ground, it’s starting to bother. Something ain’t right with a world where preachers die before mercenaries do.

Setting the gorram world right ain’t Jayne’s thing; but there’s something he can do: cook. Book was right. A little rosemary goes a long way.

Jayne & Simon - PG13 - warning: character death - spoilers for _Serenity_

**TLC**

When Simon looks at Jayne, he sees the perfect specimen of a brute. A testosterone-fuelled fighting machine with ham sized fists, a total lung capacity of six liters, and legs built for standing one’s ground; heart and brain atrophied, not equipped to reason why.

Whenever the machine gets broken, Simon patches it up until one day Jayne comes back beyond repair.

“Gorram lung’s gone. You reckon my heart will fetch a good price, Doc?” Jayne asks, blood on his breath. “Folks back home need the dough.”

“Yes." Simon’s hands shake. "Good hearts do, Jayne.”

They bury him next to Book.


End file.
